Medicare

J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

News about Medicare, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 31, 2015

Bipartisan bill that recently cleared House of Representatives contains provision giving doctors new protections against medical malpractice suits; bill states that quality-of-care standards and guidelines used by Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act cannot be used to show negligence by a doctor or hospital; consumer advocates have expressed concerns over provision. MORE

Mar. 27, 2015

House votes 392 to 37 to approve sweeping changes to Medicare that would establish new formula for paying doctors, increase some premiums, and extend popular children's health insurance program; vote represents most significant bipartisan policy legislation in House since Republicans regained majority in 2011. MORE

Mar. 26, 2015

House leaders of both parties are confident of passing bill with sweeping changes in Medicare; Congressional Budget Office says measure could add more than $140 billion to federal budget deficits in next decade. MORE

Mar. 26, 2015

House Republicans narrowly approve budget that increases military spending, but cuts domestic programs and starts to privatize Medicare; plan is to shrink government spending $5.5 trillion over next ten years. MORE

Mar. 26, 2015

Gail Collins Op-Ed column calls on Senate Democrats to abandon their opposition to plan created by Reps John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi that would fix formula for reimbursing doctors under Medicaire, issue that has threatened to become crisis; argues while Democratic objections to aspects of bill are legitimate, there comes a time to throw in ideological towel for the greater good. MORE

Mar. 23, 2015

Negotiations led by House Speaker John A Boehner and Rep Nancy Pelosi are near agreement concerning changes to Medicare formulas for reimbursing doctors and rewarding them for performance; bill will also extend Children's Health Insurance Program, and would be significant accomplishment for Boehner. MORE

Mar. 17, 2015

House Republicans will propose 2016 budget that partially privatizes Medicare, turns Medicaid into block grants to states, repeals Affordable Care Act and reaches balance in decade; spending proposal is said to resemble one drafted in 2011 by Rep Paul D Ryan. MORE

Feb. 5, 2015

The Upshot; unpopular bill known as the 'doc fix,' passed annually by Congress to ensure that doctors do not absorb big pay cut from Medicare, actually cuts deficit by forcing lawmakers to trim parts of Medicare programs in order to finance doctors' pay; calls to eliminate annual renewal law for a permanent bill might end this efficient practice. MORE

Feb. 3, 2015

Pres Obama's new budget proposes to save $399 billion over next decade from Medicare, Medicaid and other programs by Health Dept; many Medicare recipients would have to pay more for care and coverage. MORE

Feb. 1, 2015

Medical data suggests doctors located in places where many retirees live, like Florida, expand volume of services, including unnecessary medical tests, in order to inflate their earnings; Florida in particular has become epicenter of Medicare abuse, and doctors in other states have begun warning their older patients to call them before agreeing to exams or other procedures. MORE

Jan. 30, 2015

Some cardiologists are making millions of dollars from Medicare for performing controversial, and some say unnecessary, in-office procedures to relieve blocked arteries in the arms and legs; Advisory Board Company reports procedures to put stents in vessels outside heart rose almost 70 percent from 2005 to 2013 to 853,000. MORE

Jan. 13, 2015

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will no longer pay for services provided by Yorkville Endoscopy, Manhattan clinic where Joan Rivers went into fatal cardiac arrest; agency contends clinic no longer meets standards to supply ambulatory surgical services; and will terminate benefits effective Jan 31; clinic is appealing decision. MORE

Jan. 6, 2015

Justice Dept accuses Dr Asad Qama of Ocala, Fla, one of nation's top-billing doctors, of performing unnecessary procedures on cardiac patients; he collected more than $18 million in payments from Medicare in 2012. MORE

Nov. 19, 2014

Older Americans face problem of paying out of pocket for dental care since many people over 65 lack dental insurance; federal Medicare program does not cover routine dental care or dentures, and many Medicare managed care plans offer limited coverage. MORE

Nov. 15, 2014

Federal regulators are investigating whether a 2012 email by broker-dealer Height Securities predicting that Medicare was about to raise some reimbursement rates, which led to stock price jumps among health insurers, was based on insider information. MORE

Nov. 13, 2014

Congressional Republicans, now in control, have plans to overhaul Medicare, transform Medicaid, and cut highest tax rates through budget process, measures once out of reach with Democrats controlling Senate; new Senate GOP majority will decide how far to press small-government vision. MORE

Nov. 11, 2014

Medicare will cover annual screenings for lung cancer for four million older Americans with long history of heavy smoking; draft decision by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will extend coverage for CT scans to Medicare beneficiaries who smoked at least a pack a day for 30 years or the equivalent. MORE

Oct. 13, 2014

Federal officials say they have repeatedly criticized Medicare health plans for serious deficiencies, including improper rejection of claims for medical services and unjustified limits on coverage of prescription drugs; findings come as millions of older Americans prepare to sign up for private health plans and prescription drug plans in Medicare's annual open enrollment period. MORE

Oct. 4, 2014

Editorial decries flaws in medical system, including Medicare and Medicaid, that make it difficult for patients to obtain quality end-of-life services; welcomes changes being rolled out by New York State and Institute of Medicine intended to help protect patient rights and improve access to community and home care. MORE

Oct. 4, 2014

Tara Siegel Bernard Your Money column offers ideas on how to approach process of choosing from mind-boggling array of Medicare plans. MORE

Sep. 22, 2014

Op-Ed article by oncology experts Andrea McKee and Andrew Salner observes growing consensus that annual CT screening for lung cancer could save thousands of lives each year among older people and current and former smokers; argues that such screening should be eligible for coverage by Medicare. MORE

Sep. 21, 2014

Jennifer Conlin Reverse Parenting column says she was forced to order her mother's heart medication through pharmacies in Canada after Medicare stopped covering it. MORE

Sep. 4, 2014

The Upshot; Medicare spending is falling on a per-person basis, and if the pattern continues, as the Congressional Budget Office forecasts, it will be a rarity in the program's history; factors for pattern include the baby boom generation entering the program and Medicare patients using fewer expensive medical services. MORE

Aug. 31, 2014

Medicare may begin covering end-of-life care consultations by doctors, type of planning once derided as 'death panels,' if it approves recommendation from the American Medical Assn; interest in consultations has risen along with the number of aging Americans, and many private insurers have already begun reimbursing doctors for them. MORE

Aug. 30, 2014

Medicare quietly announces that it will settle hundreds of thousands of hospital appeals over bills for short-term care by offering deals that could add up to several hundred million dollars; decision is effort by agency to end battle with thousands of hospitals over amount they should receive for treating patients who stay for just a day or two. MORE

Aug. 28, 2014

The Upshot; Congressional Budget Office continues to reduce its estimate for Medicare spending in coming years; six years of consistent reductions mean federal government's long-term budget deficit is considerably less severe than commonly thought, and that health care may be starting to stabilize as a share of national spending. MORE

Aug. 26, 2014

Editorial underscores major flaws in Medicare's rating system for nursing homes, particularly its overreliance on self-reporting by nursing homes; calls for improvements in rating system. MORE

Aug. 25, 2014

Examination of Medicare's rating system of nursing homes by The New York Times has found that many top-ranked nursing homes have been given seal of approval that is based on incomplete information and can mislead consumers; Medicare ratings, which have become gold standard across the country, are based in large part on self-reported data by nursing homes that government does not verify. MORE

Aug. 17, 2014

Obama administration is planning to pay monthly fees to doctors who manage care for Medicare beneficiaries with two or more chronic conditions; major policy change comes amid growing evidence that patients with chronic illnesses suffer from disjointed, fragmented care; new initiative will adopt techniques devised by health maintenance organizations. MORE

Aug. 16, 2014

Obama administration's declared war on health care fraud is returning only meager results, despite escalation, recovering about $4.3 billion of an estimated $60 billion in 2013; interviews reveal that sprawling effort relies on an array of poorly-managed outside contractors, rife with conflicts of interest and vulnerable to political influence. MORE

Aug. 5, 2014

The Upshot; experts question effectiveness of HP Acthar Gel, drug made from pigs’ pituitary glands, which cost Medicare more than $141 million in 2012, up from $7 million in 2008; explosive growth illustrates how Medicare's prescription drug program is struggling to contain taxpayer burden of expensive therapies aimed at rare conditions. MORE

Jul. 29, 2014

Federal government’s annual report on the financial health of Medicare and Social Security projects that Medicare trust fund will remain solvent for 16 more years, until 2030, four years later than Obama administration predicted in May 2013; estimates that Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2033, same as expected in 2013. MORE

Jul. 21, 2014

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column contends worries about budget deficits and national debt have faded from news after years of warnings due to fact that the panic surrounding them turned out to be false alarm; maintains debt panic was promoted only because it served political purpose as offering means to attack Social Security and Medicare. MORE

Jul. 1, 2014

Executive Health Resources, little-known consultant owned by health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, is flourishing by helping hospitals exploit what they describe as gray area in Medicare payments for hospital stays; consultant is often at center of battles between hospitals and Medicare over how facilities bill. MORE

Jun. 10, 2014

Editorial welcomes progress on transgender rights in health care; praises Obama administration's decision to reverse 1981 policy that excluded gender reassignment surgery from coverage under Medicare; also notes Defense Department's new willingness to review ban on transgender military service and updated policy concerning gender designation on birth certificates in New York State. MORE

Jun. 3, 2014

New York Times analysis of Medicare data shows that hospitals charged more for every single one of 98 common ailments in 2012, and the increase for all but seven exceeded the nation’s 2 percent inflation rate for that year. MORE

May. 31, 2014

Department of Health and Human Services appeals board rules that Medicare may no longer exclude sex-reassignment surgery from coverage; decision, which applies to beneficiaries of the health plan for older Americans and people with disabilities, covers only surgery, not other treatments like hormones. MORE

May. 16, 2014

Medicare pilot program aims to use vast volumes of government data mined from personal health records to direct assistance to potentially vulnerable people in emergencies and disasters; effort, however well-intentioned, raises privacy concerns. MORE

May. 14, 2014

Ninety people, including doctors, pharmacy owners and elderly patients, are arrested in six cities, mostly in Florida, and charged with submitting fake billings to Medicare worth nearly $260 million. MORE

Apr. 28, 2014

Government data indicates that of the 10 physical therapists nationwide who were paid most by Medicare in 2012, four lived in Brooklyn, NY; practice operated by Dr Wael Bakry, the top biller, received some $4.1 million from Medicare for astounding 183,000 treatments within year; high rate has raised eyebrows among analysts who say physical therapy is far more vulnerable to fraud than other types of medicine. MORE

Apr. 24, 2014

Amedisys, one of the nation's largest home health providers, will pay $150 million to resolve accusations that it inflated Medicare billings and had improper financial relationships with referring physicians. MORE

Apr. 11, 2014

Editorial on data showing that doctors who are top recipients of Medicare reimbursement dollars have donated heavily to 'super PACs' in the hopes of getting Medicare investigators off their backs; maintains it is undeniable there is a quid pro quo in the donations, and that it underscores the need for campaign finance reform. MORE

Apr. 10, 2014

Health and Human Services Dept report shows that Florida doctors Salomon Melgen and Asad Qamar, who received the nation's highest Medicare reimbursements in 2012, are both major contributors to Democratic Party causes; Melgen and Qamar, subjects of investigations for fraudulent billing, defend their payments, citing unique conditions at their practices. MORE

Apr. 10, 2014

Newly released data reveals that ophthalmologists were the biggest recipients of Medicare money in 2012; reasons say volumes about an aging population and specialty that does many procedures, all well-reimbursed by Medicare; findings also reveal the difficulty of interpreting the Medicare data; ophthalmologists say their high representation among the list of big recipients is misleading, since bulk of Medicare money goes to costs of drugs they administer. MORE

Apr. 10, 2014

Release of Medicare payment data is getting mixed reviews from doctors, who say they favor sharing information but worry that data presented omits important details and may paint an unfairly negative picture of individual doctors. MORE

Apr. 9, 2014

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is making available to the public the most detailed data about Medicare ever released in the program's nearly 50-year history; data provides an unprecedented look at the practice of medicine across the country, and will provide consumers with an ability to compare doctors and treatments in a way they have never before had. MORE

Apr. 3, 2014

Democrats are evincing some confidence about 2014 midterm elections for the first time this year after Pres Obama's announcement that the new health care plan has enrolled 7.1 million Americans, coinciding with the release by Rep Paul D Ryan of new Republican budget that proposes changes to Medicare and deep spending cuts. MORE

Apr. 3, 2014

Medicare says that it plans to make available to consumers and others detailed information on what it pays individual physicians, despite the long-term resistance by the American Medical Assn and other groups. MORE

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A year after it was fully in place, the Affordable Care Act has largely succeeded in delivering on President Obama’s main promises, even as it fell short in some ways and gave birth to a new and powerful conservative movement.

Use the form below to find a doctor or other medical professional among the more than 800,000 health care providers that received payments in 2012 from Medicare Part B, which covers doctor visits, tests and other treatments. Payments may also cover overhead, such as staff salaries and drug costs. In some cases, when doctors work as salaried employees of group practices, the payments that show up under their names go to their institutions.